Courter: Move to Austin has been good for Peewee

Courter: Move to Austin has been good for Peewee

Peewee Moore called the other day to talk about some upcoming shows he will be doing in town, but also to talk about his career since moving to Austin, Texas, about 18 months ago.

"It's been great," he said. "There are just a ton of musicians to pick from to take out on the road."

He said he goes through drummers at a Spinal Tap-like rate for some reason.

Moore and his band, Awful Dreadful Snake, are about to embark on a three-month, 18-state, coast-to-coast tour that will include a stop at Rhythm & Brews June 11 and a return trip Sept. 11 to play Riverfront Nights with another former Chattanoogan, Eric Heatherly.

"We're really excited about coming back," Moore said. "We did one back in February at JJ's [Bohemia] that went real well."

Living in Austin has other benefits, he said, in addition to offering a large pool of musicians. Just being able to claim Austin as his return address carries some cachet.

"People seem to take you more seriously, I guess, if you are out of Austin and out touring."

Moore said he has always performed from coast to coast, but since the move he has been able to book some new venues, and the crowds have gotten larger with new fans showing up at each stop.

Among those new bookings is the third annual Johnny Cash Music Festival June 18 in Ventura, Calif., at the Ventura Fairgrounds with Kris Kristofferson, The Stray Cat Lee Rocker, The Blasters, Deke Dickerson and punk band X.

He will also be one of the resident performers for the fourth year at Sturgis Bike Rally in South Dakota.

Earlier this week, he released a live record available for free download on reverbnation.com/peeweemoore.com.

"It just came out two days ago and had 200 downloads," he said.

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WUTC-FM 88.1 will be making some upgrades to its services over the next several weeks as part of its annual spring membership drive.

For one thing, the station will be adding some power to its digital broadcast, according to a news release.

"Additionally, WUTC-2, a musical service that we have just started building, will offer another 24-hour radio experience for those in the region who have digital receivers or who listen over the Internet," said John McCormack, WUTC station manager. "This programming will be mostly music related."

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I've finally gotten around to really studying and researching the full Riverbend lineup, and this could be one of the more exciting festivals in a long time. There always are great acts to discover, but a little time on YouTube made me a big fan of The Secret Sisters. Do yourself a favor and find "Tennessee Me." I'm also curious to see Deep Fried 5, a jazz-funk-jam band.